First Alert: Michael moves away, then cooler weather moves into the Midlands

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Weather conditions have improved significantly now that Michael is pushing farther away from the Midlands, courtesy of a cold front that is moving into our area. This front will allow high pressure to move in along with more sunshine over the next several days.

· A cold front moves in tonight into Friday, giving way to cooler temperatures and sunshine.

· Highs will be in the upper 70s Friday with mostly sunny skies. Overnight lows will be in the 50s.

· Highs this weekend will be in the mid 70s with lows in the 50s and 60s. We’re expecting mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies.

· A little unsettled weather trickles in early next week.

Dominic Brown's evening forecast

First Alert Weather Story:

Michael Quick facts

National Hurricane Center:

Location: 20 miles NNW of Raleigh, NC

Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph

Present movement: NE at 23 mph

Tropical Storm Warnings have been issued for the Midlands and the Pee Dee region.

From the National Hurricane Center:

At 500 PM EDT (2100 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Michael was located near latitude 36.1 North, longitude 78.8 West. Michael is moving toward the northeast near 24 mph (39 km/h), and this motion is expected to continue with an increase in forward speed through tonight.

A turn toward the east-northeast at an even faster forward speed is expected on Friday and Saturday. On the forecast track, the center of Michael will move across eastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia this evening, and move into the western Atlantic Ocean tonight. Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph (85 km/h) with higher gusts. Michael is forecast to intensify as it becomes a post-tropical low over the Atlantic late tonight and Friday.

Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 230 miles (370 km), primarily over water to the southeast of the center. A wind gust of 53 mph (85 km/h) was recently reported at Danville, Virginia, and a gust of 56 mph (91 km/h) was reported at Burlington, North Carolina. A sustained wind of 51 mph (81 km/h) and a gust of 59 mph (94 km/h) at the Johnny Mercer Pier in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.